ONCOGENE REGULATION BY GROWTH-FACTORS

Abstract

Complementary studies on quite different eukaryotic systems are revealing that certain mitogenically important enzymes, that were previously assigned to unrelated metabolic pathways, bind and may be regulated by receptor tyrosine kinases (RTKs). A deeper understanding of the relationships between these signalling pathways promises to improve our attempts to rationalise important properties of the transformed phenotype, such as tumour growth rates, metastasis and mechanisms of cellular transformation, and thereby, it is hoped, improve prognostic, diagnostic and treatment regimes. This review briefly summarises results from our and other laboratories that have shed light on specific intracellular signalling enzymes that respond to stimulation by RTKs.